Cover Image: California Girls

California Girls

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Member Reviews

Kudos to Susan Mallery!
This book is amazing, it is about three sisters who all have relationship breakups on the same day. The end for them is the beginning of self-discovery and finding out who they truly are.
It is a must read!

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I received an ARC copy of this book for honest review from net galley.

This novel is about three sisters Finola, Zennie and Ali who all have different personalities. Finola is the oldest and has made a life and career in Television. She is married to a surgeon and thought they were happy together until he told her he was having an affair with a pop star.

Zennie is the middle child and does not feel she has to be in a relationship to be happy. She is a nurse and is very happy with her job. She is loyal and caring. She is casually seeing Clark who is a zoologist but does not feel that it will lead to anything.

Then there is Ali who is the youngest and engaged to be married to Glen. Ali feels over looked by her parents. She doubts herself. Instead of going after what she wants she keeps to the bakground.

Then all three sisters find there lives changing in an instant. Finola finds out her husband is having an affair. Glen sends his brother to tell Ali that the wedding is off and Clark ends it with Zennie. This starts a new journey for all three sisters.

The revelation and growth from all three is amazing. They realize there mistakes and learn and grow from them.

This was an amazing story and I absolutely loved it. Susan Mallory was brilliant as always.

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While the characters were a little tough to like in the beginning (Fionla is super selfish, Zennie has too many walls around her and Ali is a fricken doormat) over time and through the course of the predictable story they grow on you. I would love to see a sequel - if only to not have Ali complain about not having a parent anymore and to see what Mary Jo and Spencer get up to!!

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Three sisters, as different as chalk is from cheese, all get dumped by the men in their lives on the same day. One’s husband tells her he’s been having an affair and leaves to be with that much younger woman; one gets dumped during a dinner out, and the youngest gets dumped a few weeks before her wedding – and that’s not the worst part for her: her fiancé doesn’t even tell her in person. He sends his brother to do the dirty work.

Can these three women pick up the pieces of their relationship-disaster lives and move forward?

That’s the question posed in Susan Mallery’s newest book from Harlequin/Mira CALIFORNIA GIRLS.

I have to say I didn’t have one sister that I liked or disliked more than the other. They were all equally appealing and at times not-so-much so for me. Finola is the oldest and married to the cheater. Zennie’s in the middle and not really sure the whole “pairing up thing” in life is for her, and Ali’s the bride that almost was. The one constant in their lives is their pain-in-the-neck mother who’s entire goal in life seems to be made a grandmother.

Written with her usual flare for diving deep into the emotional depth and minds of her characters, Mallery gives us three women at a crossroads who are the poster children for the phrase “I never saw that coming” in their lives. And, also as usual, the way they each grow and come out of that relationship pitfall is written with a great deal of humor, warmth, angst, and discovery.

This was an enjoyable book. Thank you to Netgally and Mira for allowing me a sneak peak in exchange for an honest opinion. CALIFORNIA GIRLS is a keeper!

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Three sisters, brought together by the decision of their mother to leave the family home, must deal with life changes and the evolution of romance. Finnola, tv star and woman who has everything, learns in humiliating ways of her husband's infidelity. Ali, a working class girl who believes she's about to embark on her happily ever after, is jilted nearly at the altar, and her fiancee's brother is there to pick up the pieces. Zennie, whose romantic life is more love em and leave em than forever, is asked to carry her best friends' baby. Each of the sisters struggles with her relationship with the others and find their own path to happiness, not what any of them expected,
Susan Mallery writes great, complex characters and puts them in interesting situations that make the reader keep turning the pages. California Girls follows the pattern and will leave new and old readers of Mallery satisfied. Nice to have intelligent characters in non- traditional situations.

I got this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Regardless, this is an honest review.

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Well , that surely was a horrible weekend for these three sisters.. All three , in varying degrees of their relationships get unceremoniously dumped. Each story line and character were fun to follow and very relatable. Was it a stretch that these three are sisters and this happened to all within hours? Absolutely. The girls did not even seem very close or have similar personalities. It might have been better suited to portray them as good friends. Their mother was disturbingly narcissistic and self absorbed, almost cruel in nature. I just don’t see these girls in the midst of notably their worst nightmares taking time to help their mother pack up her home without sharing their experiences. I did enjoy the book, but found it awkward.. I rooted for each and cheered them on. Definitely I would recommend curling up on a winter afternoon and treating yourself to a fun story. #netgalley #MIRABOOKS

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Plenty of family drama abounds, but it all comes together with Mallery's trademark humor and ability to showcase the love that binds a family together. 3 sisters who are all facing major hurdles in their lives at the same time have to decide if this will bring them back together, or if it will be the wedge that pushes them farther apart than ever. Beautifully written, this one will draw you in and keep you rooting for the girls.

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This is about 3 sisters who get dumped on the same weekend. It's sweet, sad, funny
and wonderful. This was a true page turner. I loved every word.

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My very first Susan Mallery book and it's not going to be my last. 

The story combined chick lit with romance and lessons of love, heartbreak, moving on and growing as a person and it all revolved around a wonderful story of 3 sisters: Finola, Zennie, and Ali, who could not be more different.  

The 3 sisters experience heartbreak at the same time, Finola, the oldest, is a local morning show personality, is informed by her husband minutes before she has to be on live TV, that he has been having an affair and is leaving her, Zennie pretty much has no feelings whatsoever to the news of her boyfriend breaking up with her, and Ali's fiancé sends his brother to break off their engagement, just weeks before the wedding is supposed to take place. 

All of them go through various emotions and learn things about themselves, some truths more uncomfortable than others. They all realize mistakes they've made in the past and they grow from them instead of letting those mistakes define them. 

Recommended to anyone who enjoys stories about families, love, and personal growth. 
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

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An interesting story revolving around three sisters and their mother. Different walks of life and different problems that arise. Dealing with heartache and becoming stronger. You'll find it intriguing how everything works out.

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My first book by Susan Mallery and I can't imagine why I have not read her books before! A wonderful story of 3 sisters and their troubles and triumphs. 3 very different sisters all spurned during the same week. Each sister deals with it differently, but in the end they become stronger both together and individually. Some of the situations are very predictable, but the characters are so engaging that you don't care. It was a pleasure to read. Thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity.

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Susan Mallery has some impressive lines in California Girls. I thought I was reading s light, breezy beach read book and instead I got thought provoking commentary on relationships and what makes them tick. There were some breezy parts- a getaway weekend to Santa Barbara, workouts with friends- but the best parts were when the 3 sisters were figuring out who they were and what they wanted out of life. Definitely deeper than I was expecting but I really enjoyed it.

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I received an advance readers copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest review. This book tells the story of three sisters, Finola, Zennie and Ali who are dumped on the same day and tells the ensuing fallout. Finola is a local morning show personality in LA. Her longtime husband chooses to tell her he is having an affair 15 minutes to her going on live TV. The worst part, her guest on the show, country star Treasure, let’s her know as they are going on that she is the other woman. Zennie has never connected with anyone. When she is on her fourth date with nice guy Clark, he realizes that she is just going through the motions, and he breaks things off. Ali is seven weeks out from her wedding to Glen, when he sends his brother Daniel to break things off. You get three parallel stories about the sisters. I really wish this had been a trilogy as I don’t feel like each sister’s story was complete. I loved the Daniel and Ali part of the story, I would give that part a five star as Daniel was fantastic and Ali had a lot of personal growth. I would give Zennie’s story three stars as I felt it skipped over some of the personal growth and were expected to buy that she was changing. I really did not like Finola. She was a self-centered narcissistic. Her part of the story left me unsatisfied. Bottom line, there are some really great parts of this story and some not so great.

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This was my first standalone Susan Mallery and I was very pleasantly surprised! The only other books by Susan that I’ve read were her Happily Inc series (a cheesy, cutesy romance series). California Girls is about three sisters who, coincidentally and unfortunately, all get dumped on the same weekend. The character development of the sisters was great and I loved the theme of female empowerment throughout the story! I will definitely be picking up more Susan Mallery in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin – MIRA for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I really enjoyed this book, I liked all the characters and the setting will recommend it to all my customers

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Finola, Zennie and Ali are 3 sister who could not be more different. When I first started California Girls by Susan Mallery I was intrigued by how it all started and was very curious for how it would all end. There were many unexpected twists and turns along the way for the 3 sisters.

While I enjoyed this story about 3 sisters who learn about heartbreak, healing, second chances and happily ever afters, I also felt this may have been better as a trilogy instead of a novel. There were times where so many things were going on for each characrer I couldnt genuinely connect with them all.
I found I connected best with Daniel and Ali.

I received an ARC of California Girls from Netgally and this is my honest review.

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Susan does it again writing another tale of sisters losing their love and picking up the pieces. California Girls is about three sisters Finola Zenner and Ali. Finola is the sister who seems to have it all, brains beauty and wonderful husband. She host an am talk show that is doing wonderful. Zenner is a an OR nurse who unlike her sisters don’t believe in romance and love and do not mind being alone.
In the novel each sister is faced with a challenge. Finola husband decides to have a passionate affair with a young country singer, Ali fiance dumps her seven weeks before their wedding and Zenner decides to make a personal sacrifice for her friend.
Ms. Mallery has found an in depth way to combine women's fiction and chick lit and create true reality of our time and and still gives you uplifting romance. In Susan recent novels her writing about more than one HEA I feel like you are getting three books in one, since each woman characteristics likes and want plot out with so much depth and insight. You turn the page to read whats next with each sisters. We also get an overbearing mother a father who mostly texts his children and happenings going on around each women's job.
Review on goodreads and amazon.

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California Girls has it all: characters you will either love or want to pummel, story lines that draw you in to all the messes created and true, raw emotion.
Three sisters, Finola, Zennie and Ali all have their lives up ended on the same weekend. Finola’s husband leaves her. Zennie’s boyfriend breaks up with her. Ali’s fiancé backs out. How the women put their lives back together with putting up with a critical mother creates an engaging, draw you in story.

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I have always loved Susan Mallery's writing style. She makes you feel like you know the characters and you are an old friend. The same could be said for this latest work. California girls centers around three sisters who all are dumped in the same awful week. Together the sisters will rediscover who they are and how to find love all over again. Such a great story. This will be a highlight of 2019.

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Reading a Susan Mallery book is like eating cake with lots of icing, it's pleasing to the pallet. In California Girls Finola, Zennie, and Ali are all dumped at the same time. Each sister deals with her situation differently. Finola reevaluated her life and decides she really doesn't need a husband, Zennie Offers to be a surrogate for her best friend and ends up with more than she bargained for. Ali, the most likable of the sisters, finds passion with the brother of her fiancé. The sisters parents are both insufferable and don't play a major role in the novel. I love the cover of the book as it's pure California.

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